Apparatus for measuring and feeding materials.



P. B. GILBRETH. v APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING MATERIALS. I

' I APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1902. 1,014,645.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGIAPH CO-vV/ASHINBTON. D c.

Patentd Jan. 16,1912.

F. B. GILBRETH.

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING MATERIALS.

urucumn FILED nov. 24, 1902.

1,014,645, Patented Jan 16,1912.

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-FLB. GILBRETH. APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING MATERIALS.

I APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24,1902. v v 4 Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

Lwehior: Witnesses. M ,B. Gilbfcth,

COLUMBIA PLANDGPAPH,CO.,WASHINGTON, D. c.

R B. GILBRETHL' APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING MATERIALS;

' APPLICATION PILED NOV. 24, 1902.

'1 ,'014,6 1'5. Patented Jan. 16, 1912.,

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FRANK B. GILBRETH, F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING MATERIALS.

Application filed November 24, 1902.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRANK B. GILBRETH,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at parts.

My invention relates to apparatus for measuring and feeding. materials,such, for example, as are used in the composition of concrete and thelike, the apparatus being especially useful in connection with concretemixers of the various types now in use.

In the mixing of concrete it is desirable to control with accuracy theproportions of stone, sand and cement that are mixed together in theformation of the concrete composition, and it is equally desirable,especially when a gravity type of mixer is employed, to permit thestone, sand and cement to flow continuously to and through the mixer, inwhich event the rates of flow determine the proportions of the variousparts when mixed together. Inan apparatus of this type the greatestdifficulty is encountered in controlling the flow of the cement which isusually very finely comminuted, amounting almost to an impalpablepowder, and one of the principal aims of my present invention is toprovide means for controlling the flow of this fine, dust-likesubstance. This feature of my invention, as well as various otherfeatures thereof, will best beunderstood from a description of one formof apparatus made in illustration thereof.

Of the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 in end elevation shows anapparatus illustrating one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 anenlarged detail in side elevation showing the outlets from the severalhoppers where they meet the moving delivery surface or cylinder; Figs. 34 and 5, vertical longitudinal sections taken respectively on the dottedlines 33, 44, and 55, Fig. 2.

In the particular embodiment of my invention selected for illustrationherein and shown in the drawings, a, b and '0 are hoppers to containvarious materials to be mixed, such, for instance, as broken stone, sandand cement, there'being arranged above these hoppers suitablefacilities, as the tramway T, Fig. 1, for conveniently depositingSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

Serial No. 132520;.

in the hoppers the materials to be drawn therefrom. Below the outletsfor these several hoppers I have provided a traveling delivery surfaceshown as and preferably in the form of a cylindrical surface presentedby the cylinder E, having a left-handed rotation as viewed in thedrawings arranged to be driven in suitable or convenient manner, notforming a part of my present invention and therefore not illustrated.

The hoppers referred to are made of varying capacities, according to theaverage proportions of materials to be mixed; for example, in thepresent instance, the sand hopper b is slightly smaller than the brokenstone hopper, a, and the cement hopper 0 in turn is smaller than thesand hopper b, it having been found that in general, practice more stoneis used than sand, and more sand than cement. The capacities of thesehoppers may however be varied as desired, to meet any particular use towhich the apparatus is put.

As herein shown, the several hoppers referred to are mounted upon asuitable framework which includes the longitudinal stringers f f(see'Figs. 3 to 5, inclusive) and below'each hopper is arranged anoutlet spout or chamber, which for convenience I prefer to make of sheetmetal. Referring, for instance, to Fig. 3, the outlet, a, for the hoppera is composed of the metallic side plates, a 42 depending from thestringers f f and connected by the front and back walls a a the latterof which may for convenience be formed integrally with the said sidewalls. The back wall a has near its bottom a portion, a inclined in thedirection of rotation of the cylinder E to facilitate delivery ofmaterials onto the surface of the said cylinder w wall, (E, of the spoutas herein shown, terminates at a considerable, distance above the e thelatter is in rotation. The front I at a a safety gate, a, to the outerface of which is secured an arm a, provided with a series of openings,a, which receive the free itself if choked, or to permit the escape ofany obstruction which if prevented from escaping would vary theproportion of the material being fed. Adjustment of the counter-weightor weights, a along the supporting arm, a, furnishes means for adjustingthe pressure or force tending to restrain" this safety gate fromswinging.

The construction of the discharge spout and safety gate for theintermediate hopper b is similar to that of a, similarly indexedreference letters being employed to designate corresponding partsthereof. The delivery spout, 0, for the cement hopper, c, is howeverpreferably quite different in construction from that of the otherhoppers, because of the entirely different dust-like character oftheimaterial to be controlled. For exaImple,.while it is possible anddesirable with the broken stone and sand to divert it in the directionof rotation of the cylinder E to facilitate the flow of the materialstherefrom and which may be done without losing control of saidmaterials, with the dust-like cement it is impossible so to divert ordirect the same upon the rotating cylinder in the direction of rotationthereof, for the finely divided character of the cement is such that itis likely at any time to slide outward from the hopper in a body, andbeyond the control of devices such as would control the flow of theother materials. Accordingly, the cement spout, a", is provided with arear preferably forwardly inclined or directed wall, 0 which throws thecement toward an opposed front-guard wall, 0 To the lower end of theguard wall 0 is hinged at 0 a few o-arm bracket or member 0 to one oftheiarms of which is secured the adjustable deflecting wall, a, and tothe other arm of which is secured an operating member, 0 which may be asimple armor board-like member extending from one to the opposite end ofthe spout chamber 0,

A turn-buckle adjustment 0 connects the member 0 with the stationarypart of the apparatuswhereby the inclination or deflection of the member0 may beadjusted at will. Access to the turn-buckle may be had throughthe hand hole 0 in the side walla of the spout and normally closedthereat. The cement 'gravitating downward through the spout, 0, insteadof being directed upon the moving cylinder in the direction of rotationthereof, is directed by the inclined rear wall 0 first toward the frontguard wall, 0 and then again rearwardly by the adjustable deflector, 0,into the separating and settling chamber, 0 which it enters in adirection opposed to the direction of rotation of the cylinder andmeeting the latter upon the ascending face or wall thereof. Thistortuous path tends to prevent the cement sliding bodily out from thehopper and free from the control of the controlling devices. I havefound also that there is likely to be considerable air mixed with andcarried by the ce nent'and which it is desirable to free in order thatthe cement may be conveniently handled; which is not possible where airmixed therewith. This I accomplish in the settling and freeing chamber,0 which is provided at its top with an outlet-opening, 0 normally closedby a very fine screen, 0 which may be of cloth. The cement directed intothis chamber 0 is retained therein a sufiicient time to permit the airto escape therefrom and pass outgthrough the opening 0 the cementsettling to the bottom, into contact with the moving wall of thecylinder E, by which it is carried forward and out past the safety gate0 in a manner similar to that described with reference to the othermaterials handled by the apparatus. possible loss of control of thecement, I have arranged in front of the safety gate 0 a hinged plate 0provided with a plurality of inwardly extended bristles or projections 0extending close to the periphery of the rotating cylinder and throughwhich the cement must pass to be free.

Were it not for the projection 0 the cement issuing from the feed spoutwould be apt to break away in large bodies or masses rather than flowevenly and uniformly down upon and with the cylinder E into the hopperand mixer. The projections 0 how- To further guard against any ever,arranged as many as maybe desired in i stone, sand and cement aredeposited by means of the tramway T- or otherwise, in their respectivehoppers, from which they gravitate upon the rotating cylinder E. Thestone and sand issue through the spouts, Figs. 3 and 4, upon thecylinder E and pass with and under the control of the latter into thehopper H shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, arranged below the cylinder.The swinging safety gates a permit the issuance of any abnormal lumps ormasses of foreign substance which, if not permitted to escape, wouldremain in position to interfere with the flow of materials from thespout and thereby vary the proportions of materials being mixed. Theswinging safety gate by yielding for the escape of such lumps of theforeign matter, permits the escape thereof and immediately is restoredto its normal position to preserve the proper rate of feed of material.

Referring to Fig. 5 the movement of the cement is quite different.Gravitating from the hopper it meets or. is deflected toward and uponthe swinging deflector 0 which directs it rearwardlyinto the settlingchamber 0 which it enters in opposition to the moving cylinder surface,whichv tends to turn it over and agitate it and prevent it settling inunequal masses within said chamber. WVhile being agitated therein theair largely escapes therefrom, the same passing outward through theopening 0 The general effect of the settling chamber 0 is moreover toretain the cement in what might be called a mild agitation or turningover for a suflicient time to eliminate any inequalities in mass ordensity or otherwise that might be found therein as a result of anyinequality of gravitation from the hopper above, so that when it finallyis carried by frictional contact with the cylinder under the deflectora, it is of substantially uniform density ortexture and substantiallyfree from such inequalities as would naturally be found therein were itpermitted to pass thereafter directly from the hopper.

Any tendency of the material under excessive or unequal pressure to flowunduly: past the swinging deflector 0 will act automatically to swingthe latter toward the surface of the cylinder and thereby counteract thetendency to excessive flow; in other words, the swinging deflector aowing to the weight of the member 0 and turn-buckle adjusting devices 0when properly adjusted, acts as an automatic gate to guard againstexcessive flow of cement out from the settling chamber 0 Should thecement after having passed the swinging deflector 0 tend to 010 oraccumulate in the spouts at the left fliereof, Fig. 5, or

should the action of the cement upon thev swinging deflector 0 alone beinsufficient to cause it to respond and partially cut off the within thesettling chamber and to suit the varying requirements of differentmaterials or other difl'erent conditions. This is effected by theprovision of the hinged support d for the deflecting wall, 0 about whichit may be moved to the desired angle and there secured by adjustment ofthe nut 0Z upon the threaded strut-like member 03 pivotally secured tothe frame or by any other suitable adjusting means. A screen 0 closingthe air opening 0 should be of such flneness, preferably of fine cloth,and so secured that while permitting the escape of the .air from thesettling chamber it will effectually prevent escape of even the finestof the cement. The various materials passing down over and upon thecylinder into the hopper H are directed by the hopper intlql the mixingapparatus herein typified at The principal advantage of my apparatusresides in the complete control obtained over the various materials andthe resultant possibility of obtaining accurate proportions of materialsin the concrete composition, together with the fact that a continuousflow or supply of these materials may be had as for use in connectionwith the gravity type materials thereby, and means connected to theswinging plate at the rear thereof and adapted to be operated by theexcess flow of materials beyond said plate whereby to cause the freeedge of said plate to swing toward said delivery wall for the purposeset forth.

2. The combination with a chute, of a rotary delivery cylinderth'erefor,means for directing the flow of materials from said chute against theascending side of the said delivery cylinder, a swinging gate adapted tocheck the excess delivery of material by said cylinder, and an operatingmember convnected to said gate on the delivery side thereof to operatethe same through the pressure of excess material delivered thereby.

3. The combination with a chute and a moving delivery wall therefor, ofa settling chamber intermediate the chute and said moving wall, aswinging regulating device, a swinging safety gate, and a plurality ofinwardly directed projections between which the moving material mustpass.

4. The combination with a chute and a movable delivery wall therefor, ofmeans to direct the flow of materials from said chute upon said movingdelivery wall in a direction opposed to the movement of said wall, and aswinging member pivoted above the exit from said chute and hanging inthe path of the material carried away by the delivery wall so that saidmember will be actuated by'the excess flow of materials over saiddelivery wall to swing into a position to oppose such excess flow.

5. The combination with a chute and a movable delivery wall therefor, ofa settling chamber intermediate the said chute and moving wall out ofwhich chamber the said delivery wall must raise the material in thedelivery thereof, and adevice controlled by the excess delivery of thematerial itself upon the moving wall to prevent excess delivery fromsaid settling chamber.

6. The combination with a chute, of a rotary delivery cylinder, asettling chamber intermediate said chute and cylinder and on theascending side of the latter,'and a pivotally mounted plate adaptedto beengaged by the excess flow of material from said chamber over saidcylinder and thereby to be swung downward toward the cylinder to checksuch excess flow.

7 In a cement feeding device, the combination with a chute and a movingdelivery wall therefor, of a feed regulating device, and cement dividingmeans projecting toward said moving delivery wall beyond said feedregulating device and between which the material controlled by said-wallmust pass, whereby there is provided an evenrand uniform flow ofmaterial.

8. In an apparatus of the class described,

sand hoppers, respectively, to receive the delivery directly therefrom,a swinging safety gate to control the delivery of materials from each ofsaid hoppers by its respective cylinder, a delivery cylinder alsobeneath said cement hopper but provided with a set tling chamber on itsascending side, a defleet ng devlce for deflecting the cement lnto saidsettling chamber, a swinging safety gate, also for said cement deliverycylinder, w and a regulating device for preventlng ex- 7 cess flowbetween said safety gate and said settling chamber.

9. The combination with a chute, of a rotary delivery cylinder beneathsaid chute, a settling chamber on the ascending side of the cylinder, adeflector for deflecting material from the chute into the settlingchamber, and a swinging safety gate cooperating with the cylinder and onthe opposite side i of the latter from the settling chamber.

. 10. The combination with a supplying hopper, of a delivery cylinderonto which the hopper discharges, a deflecting member for directing thedischarged material onto the cylinder, and a settling chamber a portionof whose bottom is formed by the rising side of said cylinder oppositethe delivery point for said material.

11. The combination with a cement feeding hopper, of a settling chamberconnected I ing hopper, of a settling chamber connected 3 therewith, adelivery cylinder below the hopper and forming the bottom wall of saidchamber, and a safety-gate, substantially as specified, for controllingthe amount of cement issuing upon said cylinder.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my l 100 name to this specification,in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK B. GILBRETH.

Witnesses;

FREDERICK L. EMERY, S. Err-m1. HAYNES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. 1

Washington, D. G.

